1970 Chevelle SS 454

Prior to 1970, General Motors instituted a rule in their production and design facility which stated that no cars would be produced with an engine capacity of more than 6.6 litres. In 1970, GM discarded the displacement rule, and larger, faster engines became available as standard production options. The end result was that the addition of a glorious 1970 Chevelle SS 454 engine space option to the current SS 396.

The 1970 Chevelle SS 454 was rated at 270 kW(360 hp), or 290 kW(390 hp) for the more powerful Corvette version. The engine capacity was a staggering 454 cu, (7.4Litres) LS5 coming from a V8 big block engine. The LS6 variants of this enormously powerful engine, fed by a Holley 800 cfm four barrel carburetor, developed 340 kW (450 hp) and 680 Nm (500 ft lbf) of torque.

This powerful machine was able to complete a quarter-mile (400 metre) sprint in the low to mid-13 seconds. The top speed of the vehicle 105 to 108 mph (169 – 174 kph), in fact, the LS6 variants were considered along with the 1966 Corvette as the best performance by any engine offered to date, by a manufacturer in the muscle car era. General Motors did offer much more powerful versions, but they were underrated to keep the less savvy buyers from ordering them for illegal street use. Some of the other monster versions offered were the ZL1 and L88 427’s with rates of 320 kW (430 hp) but both of these engines produced well over 373 kW (500 hp) in stock configurations.

These were considered “race only” motors; very few were installed in production vehicles. The majority of orders placed for these engines came from racers that had connections in the production factory or sold over-the-counter spares To the general public. The '70 Chevelle's styling sported bulging fenders which alluded to the power lurking within, while bold, wide SS stripes accented the hood and rear deck. One of the most awesome cars ever to roam the streets, the 1970 Chevelle SS454 LS6 is truly a legendary American muscle car. This car marked the pinnacle of the muscle car era, when gas prices were of no concern to the owners of 7.4Litre engines.

The 1970 Chevelle 454SS was considered to be the end of the muscle car era due to the “insurance surcharge” nightmare that followed. Many people that bought the car, were not skilled enough to handle the enormous amounts of pure power generated by the 1970 Chevelle SS 454, thus a huge amount of the cars were involved in spectacular crashes. This led to insurance companies upping their premiums on all performance vehicles, The 454 SS was a big block engine and was referred to as the “Heavy Chevy” option.

It is certainly a monster of a car. I really wonder the noise level when it roars up.

Date:January 10, 2012 at 16:49

Author:Adam

you see these ‘race only’ motors, are they practical as an everyday car? I have seen an old chevi on the market for a really good price and I plan to restore most of it myself. However, realistically I would like to know whether it is a sound investment, as I have no idea how much it would cost for the likes of Classic car insurance and pertrol etc.